


Days Like These

by 2nerd4this



Category: Agents of SHIELD - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Anxiety attack??, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I don't hate this one, I just wrote what I feel, Momma May, Piper needs a hug, i dunno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 10:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21052541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2nerd4this/pseuds/2nerd4this
Summary: Piper is having one of those days. Those days when everything that can go wrong will and training with May just might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. She'll do her best to hold herself together, but no promises.





	Days Like These

It was just one of those days. Those days that started out pretty nicely but something goes wrong and you can feel prickling behind your eyes and then someone says something that they don't mean to be rude but it hit too close to home and you try your best to hold back tears until you get to the bathroom and then every time anyone tells you anything slightly negative for the rest of the day, it takes all of your self-control not to burst into tears. And on top of it all, it's not even lunch yet. That kind of day. And Piper was so done with it.

She was now nestled in armchair at the back of the common room, finishing up paperwork. It was nice because she had had almost an hour of relative solitude which gave her time to come back from the brink of a mental breakdown. She didn't usually do this paperwork until the end of the week, but after she had aggressively chewed out two new recruits during training, Bobbi had suggested/ordered that she take a break. 

Unfortunately she had reached the end of the stack of files, and it was almost lunch. This left her with a small chunk of time before she had to face the swarm of people in the kitchen, and even worse, training with May afterward. Usually Piper loved training, but she didn't know if she could even handle the small critiques May tended to give. She knew that she needed them, of course, but she knew that any criticism, good or bad, might be the straw that broke the camel's back. It was just one of those days.

\------

Lunch had gone less terrible than Piper thought it would. Few people spared her a glance as she raided the fridge and those who did just offered a polite nod or soft smile. Bobbi had squeezed her shoulder, giving her an encouraging smile before carrying on, which gave Piper a little courage. Scarfing down a sandwich, she had slipped out of the room and retreated to the locker room. 

The social interaction of lunch, while not in and of itself anxiety inducing, had brought back the prickle behind her eyes. It wasn't even that anyone had done anything. She was well aware that the dirty looks and judgmental glances were all in her head. She was the one who dramatized the conversation or took a negative tone too close to heart. That didn't stop her from wishing she could just curl up in bed for the next ever.

Of course, 12:30 rolled around and she silently slipped into the training room, starting warm-up stretches. May had yet to arrive, and some faint hopeful, yet naive, voice in her head thought she might just not show up. But that wasn't her luck, no. She felt May before she heard her, so she wasn't surprised when someone sat down next to her to stretch. Piper focused on breathing and just getting through this. She could do this.

"So Bobbi told me a funny story." May said casually. This was not good. Maybe she couldn't do this.

"Really? What about?" Piper forced out, focusing on breathing.

"Said something about you scaring two newbies. She has to be mistaken. You couldn't possibly have snapped at them." May's tone sounded almost accusatory. Or was that just in her head? She didn't know. She didn't know anything right now.

"I didn't mean to. I'm.... I'm sorry." Her tone softened, trying to support her falling walls that May was taking casual, but strong swings at. It wasn't going well for the wall.

"So it's true? Care to tell me why?" May finished stretching and stood up. No, thank you very much. She had no desire to tell her why. She voiced these thoughts before she could stop herself.

"No. It's none of your business really. Can we just start, please? I have paperwork to do." She snapped, turning away to take off her shoes as to avoid May's gaze. Not that it did anything. She could still feel her raised eyebrows and smirk burning through the back of her head.

"Alright then. We'll spar for a while, and then go to strength and flexibility training, then spar again. Done at 3, just like normal. Sound good?" May adjusted her ponytail and stepped into the makeshift ring. Piper only nodded with false bravado and followed suit.

\-----

This "everything is fine and I can control my emotions perfectly well for the next two hours, thank you very much" routine worked out alright for the first half hour, as the two women took turns taking swings and May took longer and longer to pin the younger girl. Even in her disoriented state, Piper could still recognize the progress she had made while training with the older agent. 

In fact, it wasn't until after training that Piper really felt on the verge of breaking. She had had to take a bathroom break after a few critiquing remarks during strength training to avoid tears falling, but other than that, she was pretty sure she could survive the last hour of sparring. That was, of course, until May stated pausing her during rounds to adjust her stance or show her how to block a move. Deep in her mind, Piper knew the woman was doing this because she cared and didn't want to see her get hurt. Her gentle hands and quiet words were enough to prove that. Unfortunately, whatever Negative Nellie has taken over Piper's rational thought was telling her otherwise. Finally, after May huffed in frustration at Piper's fourth failed attempt to block a swing, the girl had had enough.

"Just a second May. I... I'll be right back. I need... I need to get a drink." Piper stuttered as she shuffled backward off the mat. Grabbing her water bottle and phone from the bench, she managed to just stop herself from full out running to the door.

"What on earth are you talking about Piper? You're litterally holding your water bottle. What is up with you today, kid?" May followed the girl off the mat and grabbed her own water bottle, taking a swig before planting herself pointidly between the agent and the door.

"I need to go. Please, May. Please move. I'm so sorry, please!" Piper breathing was ragged now as she fought fruitlessly against the impending breakdown. It would be worse if someone was around. She needed to get out. She managed to squeak out another broken "please" before devoting all her energy to avoiding tears. May seemed to recognize the panicked look in her eyes and stood aside, allowing Piper to rush past her and into the hallway.

\-----

It was a good thing Piper had ended up in her bunk. Really, it was a miracle. She wasn't very good at directions and often got lost when she broke down like this. She was currently curlled up under the covers, clutching her stuffed lemur tightly, trying to think about anything but her disastrous encounter with May. She knew there was no way the woman would just leave this alone.

This thought was proven when there was a soft knock on the door. Piper shut her eyes for a moment, collecting herself and shoving the stuffed animal under her pillow, before forcing out a quiet "Come in." The door slid open slowly to reveal May, dressed back in her causal clothes, and still damp after a shower. The woman slipped inside and softly shut the door behind her, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Piper. The other agent looked everywhere but at her.

"It's a good thing I found you here. Didn't really know where else to look." The older woman's voice was uncharacteristicly soft. It did nothing but set Piper on edge. 

"Sorry." She muttered, curling in tighter around herself.

"Don't apologize. You knew what you needed, and you did it. I'm glad you had the emotional maturity to do that." Piper snorted softly.

"Yeah right. Maturity." 

"I'm serious, Piper. Hon, you should have told me it was one of those days. I would have understood. I'm sorry I didn't see it." May sighed softly. Piper was genuinely confused. 

"What? No. I should have handled it better. I was just overwhelmed. You ever feel like that? Like if anyone looks at you wrong you will just curl up into a ball and cry?" This conversation had taken a turn she had definitely not expected. 

"Yeah. All the time. It's normal, Piper, I swear. Next time you feel like that, come to me, ok? And tomorrow, you and I are going to have a talk on how to cope if I'm not around and you can't escape society for a couple hours to get your bearings."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Right now you need to rest. I'll bring you supper around six, and then you can shower and we can talk if you want, but you need to sleep. Ok?" May stood up and put the chair back, and softly walked to the bed, slyly grabbing the tail of the lemur and handing back to the girl. 

"Um... yeah, I guess. I can do that." Piper was too exhausted to say anything else, and could feel herself slipping. So much so, that she barely heard May's next words. 

"Perfect. See you then."

**Author's Note:**

> I actually don't hate this one.  
Yay Me  
Please let me know what you think!


End file.
